TEHRAN (Press Shia) – The Iraqi voluntary forces, known as the Popular Mobilization Units or Hashid al-Shaabi, launched a surprise strike on members of Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah.

The preemptive attack came after reports that Daesh was preparing for an attack on Iraqi popular fighters in Tal Safouk border region.

Takfiri terrorists were gearing up to launch a raid on Hashid al-Shaabi’s 29th Brigade amid adverse weather conditions, but suffered casualties in the surprise attack.

Daesh militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, blunted the edge of Daesh offensive and later forced them to withdraw from the territories they had occupied.

In November 2017, the self-proclaimed caliphate of Daesh collapsed after Syrian and Iraqi armed forces and their allies managed to recapture the terror group’s last strongholds in the two Arab countries.